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Penal Fires
Set in a midwestern city notorious for its history of violent Vietnam war protests, Penal Fires is a psychological mystery of murder, reconciliation, romance and revenge. John Hartway, paroled after ten years for war protest crimes, stumbles upon the tail end of a murder. Dismissing it as an isolated incident, he meets a mental patient who resembles the man Hartway saw murdered. A drive-by attempt on the second manÂ’s life leads Hartway to a lethal blond, a powerful rival, a deadly prison cult, and more murders. All the evidence points to the psychiatric institute run by his father, but Hartway must overcome fraud, corruption, deceit and the demons of his past to bring the culprits to justice.
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
5 people want to read
About the author
William H. Fietzer
4 books34 followersFormer English instructor and academic librarian William Fietzer moved to Poughkeepsie, NY from Minneapolis with his wife and Norwegian forest cat, Selene, in June, 2019. He has and continues to publish articles and stories about the Twin Cities, Hudson Valley, and national cultural scenes.
His novels explore the mysteries of the world from a baby-boomer perspective; his world view indebted to the mean streets of Raymond Chandler and the merry pranksters of Ken Kesey with a soupcon of Marcel Proust. It's not a pretty world or one you want to live in, but one you’d recognize having asymptotic parallels with your own reality.
In this vein, his two previous novels, Penal Fires and Metadata Murders, examined America's underworld of class, crime, and technology. His latest, Mission: Soul Rescue, adds the paranormal to that mix. His forthcoming novel, Mission: Soul Sacrifice, continues his investigations into our spiritual and cultural realities.
His novels explore the mysteries of the world from a baby-boomer perspective; his world view indebted to the mean streets of Raymond Chandler and the merry pranksters of Ken Kesey with a soupcon of Marcel Proust. It's not a pretty world or one you want to live in, but one you’d recognize having asymptotic parallels with your own reality.
In this vein, his two previous novels, Penal Fires and Metadata Murders, examined America's underworld of class, crime, and technology. His latest, Mission: Soul Rescue, adds the paranormal to that mix. His forthcoming novel, Mission: Soul Sacrifice, continues his investigations into our spiritual and cultural realities.
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January 10, 2020
Murder, mystery, betrayal and a man who thinks he's doing what's right. But some times....people and places have things that shouldn't be messed with. Skeletons in closets that should never be opened. I met this author and bought the book from him. Some moving parts that I had to keep track of while trying to figure out who did what make it exciting. In the end....well that was an ending I did not see coming and one I haven't seen in any other book in some times. Job well done.
Displaying 1 of 1 review